Tyranny expands as consumer agency gives itself power to shut down businesses

Despite their talk, Democratic Senators have done all in their power to put the squeeze on small businesses.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

In a stunning and unprecedented move the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under the terms of the Dodd-Frank bill that was passed in haste after the Wall St. meltdown in 2008, passed a new rule that gives itself the power the shut down businesses at will and at any time, without having to provide a reason. A simple "cease and desist" order is all that is needed for the government agency to shut down any business for any reason.

According to Townhall, the businesses that are shut down cannot reopen their doors until the issue is resolved, as indicated by special government permission or a direct court order. This could take years, given that the business will then be placed in the American judicial system that is known for its years of delays. Thus, the CFPB order to shutter the doors and windows of a business is tantamount to permanently preventing them from doing business ever again. A pdf file that can be found on the CFPB website explaining in detail the rules can be directly accessed here.

This latest expansion of government tyranny is merely the next phase in the gradual power grab by the federal government which strips private business of their right to engage in commerce. Business owners from small operations to large will be placed in a financially untenable situation where many will be unable to afford to continue.

Coincidentally, the Feds had already targeted gun dealers prior to the CFPB order. The Department of Justice has gone after firearms dealers and other so-called "high risk" enterprises to shut them down. Their tactic? Smother them out of business by choking banks who lend them money. An entire program has been launched to this effected called "Operation Choke Point."

But consumer groups and business owners are fighting back. The United States Consumer Coalition is one such group, and it is taking on the Feds head-on. In a special news release the group stated,

"This unprecedented rule created by the CFPB grants the agency unilateral authority to literally shut down any business overnight. It is a doubling down of Operation Choke Point (OCP), the Administration's program to target lawful industries by intimidating banks from doing business with them. This rule allows the CFPB to immediately issue a cease-and-desist order, which terminates all business practices — and a hearing doesn’t have to be granted for 10 days, effectively shutting down businesses for at least 10 days. This is a 'guilty until proven innocent' tactic of the Administration that goes against every historical notion of justice under the law in America.

"The Administration got caught with their illegal intimidation tactics in Operation Choke Point, and now they are taking radical steps to ensure the goals of shutting down these lawful businesses are met..."

The group went further to say that this is a direct multiple-agency attack on every free market business in America and thus, every business in America, large and small, should be highly alarmed at what is occurring in Washington with regard to private enterprise. The consequences of such an attack would not only remove the right of individual citizens to operate their own businesses apart of government intimidation but would severely impact the national economy by putting dozens, if not hundreds of enterprises out of business. Most of the jobs on which America is fueled come from small business. If they are hamstrung in this manner, the result could be a bone-chilling effect on unemployment, consumer prices, and the overall health of the economy.

But the anger and rage being expressed across the country toward a rogue federal agency such as the CFPB is palpable. One blogger had this to say (alert -- graphic language):

Granted themselves the authority? Where do they get this so-called authority? How ’bout we grant ourselves the authority to keep them open? So if your Mom &amp; Pop store, their only income and the result of a lifetime of hard work, doesn’t obey or is unaware a rule, they can be shut down?

I don’t f*cking think so and I’m sure Mom and Pop wouldn’t either. I can see them defending their livelihood with a f*cking shotgun.

Wanna bet gun shops are at the top of their lists?

One can easily have a hunch that the seething rage depicted in the sentiments expressed above is but the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of small business owners have already expressed before now their deeply held view that "we have had enough of overbearing federal regulation and intrusion." And beyond that, they are stating privately that they are not going to take it anymore, even if it means greeting the Feds with shotguns and other weapons that are designed to defend themselves and their possessions from the dirty grubbing hands of federal agencies.

Share this article

Anthony G. Martin's experience in conservative politics goes back to his younger days as a student in college. He wrote a newspaper column for several newspapers in South Carolina and worked in William F. Buckley's Young Americans for Freedom which ultimately led to the election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States. He has done extensive speaking for various groups on the subject of conservative politics.